JC Fletcher
- http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com
THE ERA AND TIME OF THIS STORY IS UNKNOWN. AFTER THE MOTHERSHIP "ARKANOID" WAS DESTROYED, A SPACECRAFT "JC Fletcher" SCRAMBLED AWAY FROM IT. BUT ONLY TO BE TRAPPED IN SPACE WARPED BY SOMEONE......
Wii Warm Up: Rygar redux
Are you up for this Rygar? If so, is it because you wanted to play the PS2 version but never did? Or because you really liked the PS2 version and want whatever new content is attached to this one? Or general fandom of the Rygar arcade, Lynx (unlikely) or NES (more likely) game?
Wii Warm Up: Tecmoei
It looks like Tecmo and Koei are going to be BFF (and also Tecmo needs a bunch of money). Both companies will probably keep their normal franchises as they are -- Koei's unlikely to make any changes to the streamlined, probably automated Dynasty Warriors production process, and Tecmo will keep making horse racing games and the occasional "prestige" fighting or action game as always. But there is the possibility that the merger could change some stuff up! Square didn't really become a Final Fantasy spinoff factory until the Enix merger. Do you think this is a good move? Would you like to see one company's influence on another? Perhaps a Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball game with really detailed statistics?
Unfortunately-named new WiiWare puzzler announced
In order to pull this off, you have to combine colors and cast shadows over the game's 100 puzzles. It also includes a level editor and the ability to host speed contests. It actually sounds pretty cool! Except for the name. People could probably have figured out that it's a Wii game without the Wii pun in the title.
Active Life trailer: enjoy it with your family
We think we've figured out Active Life: Outdoor Challenge's niche. We know it differs from the 800-pound gorilla of Wii exercise games, Wii Fit, in that it's more game-based and less pure exercise activities. It also has a bit of an "adventure" setting. It also features activities like jumping that don't show up in Wii Fit, which may be better for aerobic exercise. Also it looks cute and fun.
But more important than any of that is the fact that, starting next week, Active Life will distinguish itself from Wii Fit in that you'll be able to find it in a store. Enjoy the latest trailer, which is one of the most toy-commercial-like of any game trailer we've seen. We think it's the narration.
Cashing in on Rygar is harder than it looks
Apparently, the port was conceived as a cheap-to-develop game (surprise!), but ended up "so disastrous and unportable that Tecmo had to go back to the drawing board with it." That would certainly explain all the delays. Next time you complain about PS2-to-Wii ports, remember this! Companies are working very hard to bring you all those games from 2002.
Hudson firing Cho Aniki, Final Soldier at Wii Shop next week
The impending release of either of these games would be enough to prompt a paroxysmal announcement from a certain Wii Fanboy blogger (who is me), but Hudson is threatening my heart health by planning to release both on the same day.Final Soldier is another entry in the Star Soldier series, which includes Star Parodier and a bunch of games used in the Hudson Shooting Caravan, as well as (sort of) Blazing Lazers. Accordingly, it includes the 2- and 5-minute gameplay modes that comprise the entirety of Star Soldier R. Like Star Parodier, it was never released over here.
Cho Aniki is ... a shooter about bodybuilding. And the ultimate test of Nintendo's willingness to surprise Hudson with a delay.
WiiWare edutainment hits Japan this month
As totally hardcore gamers, we in the gaming community tend to look disapprovingly at young kids' edutainment, but we think that children's "non-games" on WiiWare actually seems like a great idea. It's cheap (600 points), can be purchased from home, and might encourage a few parents to share a story with their kids.
Virtually Overlooked: Excitebike variants
Jerry "Tycho Brahe" Holkins and Mike "John Gabriel" Krahulik took the stage at the final round of the PAX 2008 Omegathon and introduced the climactic final game, which would decide which of two Omeganauts would win a trip to the Tokyo Game Show, cash, and a collection of customized, PAX-logo-emblazoned consoles. Last year, two Omeganauts vied for the prize in a round of Halo 3, which had yet to be released in stores. Everyone in attendance anticipated a similar surprise for this year's final round. The two competitors were introduced, and then the cartoonists/hosts unveiled the secret game that would be the arena for the final battle.It was Vs. Excitebike. After some Famicom Disk System fiddling, the flashing Vs. Excitebike logo appeared on the giant projector screen. The crowd exploded.
We'd totally pay five bucks for that. Or even six.
Wii Music's air guitar
The eighth in the "Today's Instrument" series of Wii Music demonstration videos is one of the most iconic, recognizable instruments, and one that is the source of a lot of people's issues with Wii Music: the electric guitar. As we all know, in Guitar Hero you push buttons on a plastic guitar controller in time with musical cues. In Wii Music, you do this.
Perhaps if this one instrument weren't in the game, people wouldn't be as inclined to compare the two and judge Wii Music so harshly, since aside from the musical theme and the idea of simulating instruments, they're extremely different things? More likely they'd complain about the lack of electric guitar.
[Video uploaded by Balance Board Blog]
Sonic Riders: Cheapo Gravity
Amazon's use of the Deal of the Day as a venue for offloading Sega Wii games continues, with the sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog air-snowboarding game. New copies of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity still retail for $30 and more, so it's a bargain at $17.99. Not as much of a bargain as it was at $10.99, but still pretty good. We get enough Sonic Defense Force comments to know that there is an audience for this game! We admit to a bit of curiosity ourselves.As usual, this deal is for today only, so if you've been waiting to grab a copy of this totally extreme cartoon racing game, slam a Mountain Dew and head over to Amazon!
Guitar Hero: World Tour's Australian pricing revealed
Australian gamers are, by now, either used to getting treated terribly by game companies, or really depressed. At this point, when a game comes out only a little late or somewhat overpriced compared to other regions, it must be a great relief. Activision has disclosed the pricing scheme for the Australian release of Guitar Hero: World Tour. The prices differ by platform, with the Wii version consistently just a bit higher than the PS2 version and lower than the other next-gen versions. $79.95 ($66.61 US) pays for just the game, $159.95 ($133.27 US) gets a "Guitar Bundle," and the Super Bundle, containing the game, guitar, drums, and microphone, will cost $319.95. Compared to Rock Band, that seems like -- oh, right.
Stream some new SPRay videos
We're a bit conflicted about Tecmo's SPRay. On one side, we think that a game built around the concept of using fluids with various useful properties to cover terrain is a unique and fun idea for a platformer. In the above video, a thick coating of a sticky slime allows the player to walk upside down. However, this concept also lends itself to an overreliance on grossout humor, which would be kind of a shame in an inventive adventure game like this one. We hope nothing like that happens in this game.
After the break, a video in which ghost vomit is used to reveal invisible walkways.
Bleach: Shattered Price
Want to try the Wii fighting game that Gamespot rated a 3.5 "bad"? No? What if we told you that it was based on an anime series? Actually, Gamespot's review score for Bleach: Shattered Blade is way on the low end of a fairly equal distribution of scores from 35% all the way up to 80%. What does that mean for us? It means we have no idea whether or not we'd like it, and neither does the reviewing community in general. If you ever wanted to try Shattered Blade, either due to Bleach fandom or love of fighting, today would be a good day for it. It's Amazon's Deal of the Day for $20.
The Conduit's publisher soon to be announced
Chris Kohler spent some time with the demo of the game, declaring the control customizations "excellent," though the default control scheme was more than sufficient for him. Aside from a general lack of enthusiasm about the environments, which look "flat, boring, and basic at this point," Kohler enjoyed the demo, which was mostly focused on shooting some aliens. He left the demo behind after dying to a boss creature -- the game is "definitely a challenge."
Gallery: The Conduit
Harping on Wii Music
The latest Wii Music "Today's Instrument" video features a musical instrument most of us are quite unlikely to have at home, due to bigness, cost, and complicated upkeep: the harp. Of course, you won't have to worry about taking care of your Wii Music harp, because it doesn't exist! You also won't have to worry about retuning it because the temperature has changed since you played it. Or knowing how to play the harp.
Playing the harp as it appears in Wii Music is easy: all you do is perform Ocelot's signature hand gesture from Metal Gear Solid 3! You can make beautiful, otherworldly-sounding music and taunt Big Boss simultaneously!
